I was strolling along the High Line Park in New York City when I noticed these two couples walking in opposite direction. I thought it amusing to photograph them just as they were right beside each other. I hurriedly stood in the middle of the pathway and centered them in my camera screen. I reckon the couple walking towards me noticed I was taking their photo as they immediately flashed me their pearly whites. The lush greenery also framed them beautifully.

I was in New York City this week to accompany my parents for their first visit to the Big Apple. They are currently in the United States for vacation so I thought it would be great to take them to NYC while they’re still strong enough to handle all the walking. A trip to New York isn’t complete without visiting Central Park so we braved the cold and headed for this famous destination. Most of the trees were still bare while the grass were mostly yellow, although, signs of green were slowly sprouting all over the park. I’ve always visited Central Park during the summer so this visit kinda provided me a different look of the park. The bare branches allowed more sunlight to reach the ground creating a brighter look and exposing more details. The photograph above was taken by my iPhone 7 Plus using the Pano mode.

The World Trade Center Mall reopened Tuesday last week after more than a decade since its destruction during the 9/11 attacks. The mall is a part of the entire World Trade Center complex featuring an architectural masterpiece of a roof, which looks like the wings of a bird in flight. I visited the mall last Friday and the interiors were quite impressive although I think it looked too sterile for a shopping complex. The mall also serves as the transportation hub of downtown Manhattan connecting pedestrians to various train stations. The whole complex is still in construction mode, however, a good number of retail stores are now open to the public. The best feature of the complex is the glass spine of the roof, which provides visitors a view of the Freedom Tower just a few feet away from the mall.

It was my first trip to New York City and a visit to Central Park was obviously inevitable. It was quite an adventure walking through the maze of busy streets and skyscrapers and then finding myself standing at the edge of this oasis right at the heart of a concrete jungle called Manhattan. I immediately dashed for the park and found myself walking through landmarks I was familiar with from watching movies and tv shows since I was a kid. While exploring the park, I found myself at this underpass with a man and his saxophone right by the entrance of the tunnel. I paid him little attention until I was at the other end of the tunnel when I looked back and saw this beautiful silhouette-like image of him romancing his saxophone. Too bad I missed to capture the moment when he arched his back and pointed his sax up in the air.

A trip to New York isn’t complete without a walk around Central Park. This haven in the middle of a concrete jungle serves as a refuge for those who needs time out from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. As for the tourist like me, it was a photo opportunity that was too hard to resist. I took this photo using the panorama feature of my iPhone 6.